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New Bikinis for Surfers that Stay On

The U.S. Open Surfing Championship is on at Huntington Beach, and while waves are challenging enough for most surfers, women no longer have to worry about whether their swimsuits will stay on. Jennifer Bjorklund reports on a new line of surfer bikinis, Calavera Swimwear, that's based in Newport Beach. (Published Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011)

After enduring years of impractical bikinis, surfers finally have swimwear to solve that pesky problem of, well, flashing the beach.

“When you get hit from below, the top rides up to your neck,” Jerstrom said.

To solve this problem, Calavera Swimwear packs their bikini strings with non-elastic filler to keep them from stretching.

Pros Catch Waves at Hurley US Open of Surfing

Vital areas, like below the bust and around cups, are reinforced with that same non-stretch materials and Velcro fasteners on the bottom allow the wearer to tighten and adjust the piece after a few waves.

Jerstrom took a page out of men’s surfing fashion when she designed the back of the bikini tops. Even if the back ties should come undone, the top stays in place – a similar design to men’s boardshorts.

The line pays particular attention to the top’s staying power. A crisscross line design adds extra support and solves the knotting issue.

Surfer girls at Huntington Beach said they appreciate the line’s attention to fashion as well as practicality. Current options just don’t do the trick.

“They always fall off,” one surfer said.

But the alternative, a one-piece Speedo, is not a good look, she added.

The surfing swimwear was field-tested in Costa Rica and is made entirely in the U.S., and as the U.S. Open Surfing Championship begins in Orange County, ladies can shift attention from they’re wearing to what they’re doing.

“There nothing worse than pulling up your bikini every time you do a duck dive,” another surfer added. “It slows you down so much.”